As some of you may know, gardening is one of my new hobbies. I don't know very much and often have to rack my brains to remember what The Mom had said about something in the past (other than be brutal in your cutting back). Oh, and I'm not always very appropriate. In fact I'm an inappropriate gardener. Lack of knowledge aside, I place plants where I want too, as opposed to where they wish to be, I'm constantly reworking the garden design. Oh, and I like to tan when I garden, so if I'm not in my mucky clothes (it's raining) I'm probably wearing my bikini - one must always maximise tanning opportunities.

So this past long-weekend, with it's lovely sunny weather found me pottering about the flowerbeds. I matched my bikini to my pink gardening gloves, secateurs and kneeling pad - all eventually streaked with stripes of mud. To begin with I had to weed. In my first planting I went with seeds and bulbs - all excited about what I was aiding to create. The next…

Well now the answer would be "yes", but on Saturday it was rather a nervous "no". I went to Bisley to the National Rifle Association (NRA) open day - let me explain...

Last year I went to a Game Fair and was asked if I'd like to try and shoot. My answer was "yes" - after all I'd shot an air-rifle before and although I didn't always break it myself, Ameba had recently shown me how to aim through the sights - so, it could be fun? Well the next question was "do you want to shoot competition or fun?" My answer was ('bravely') "I'll do whatever you do". So we were given our target sheets and six shots (one for practise, the rest for the five targets). I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I had to sneak constant peaks to familiarise myself (how to get the sheet of paper onto the thing that you then wind back?) I basically said to myself 'make sure you hit the piece of paper - it would be very embarrassing if…

Wasn't it fabulous? The gorgeous McQueen dress, leafy Abbey and a river of emotional tears shed my me! I watched the ceremony from the comfort of my reclining chair, sipping on coffee, nibbling on Toblerone and wiggling my toes to help the paint dry. I also had a face-mask - well timed though, after the service!

I then ventured forth, to where many had travelled much earlier than I - Green Park. And what a pleasure it was. The crowds were well organised, beginning in the Tube Station where we were gently but firmly marshaled towards the exits. On street level I was confronted by rather bedraggled and exhausted individuals in search of food, toilets and a comfy piece of pavement. The ceremony had ended and they were beginning to make their ways home.

From my point of view, however, the whole thing seemed very well managed. I was told by people in the crowd that although there were those who had been drinking, there were no fights and that in general everyone had been really well be…